כִּ֤י זֶ֨ה ׀ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֱ֭לֹהֵינוּ עוֹלָ֣ם וָעֶ֑ד ה֖וּא יְנַהֲגֵ֣נוּ עַל־מֽוּת׃
אַז דאָס איז גאָט, אונדזער גאָט, אײביק און שטענדיק; ער װעט אונדז פֿירן ביז אײביקײט.
Likutei Halakhot
Rosh Chodesh is also the aspect of the beginning of repentance. For then God, may He be blessed, said, "Bring atonement for Me," and repentance came down from this to all the created beings. For pangs of repentance come to all of them on Rosh Chodesh, as our rabbi, may his light shine, taught us. And that which we say half Hallel, meaning Hallel skipping around, hints to this. For so too is the penitent, as he can not walk sequentially from one level to another, but rather only by skipping. As he needs to jump over and skip several levels, as is brought on the verse (Psalms 68:13), "The hosts of angels will scatter," and as is explained in the holy Zohar. Also the Torah reading on Rosh Chodesh cannot be read in order, but rather one must skip backwards (at the end of the first aliyah, one goes back one verse to start the next aliyah). And it is possible that this is also to hint to the aspect of repentance which is on Rosh Chodesh. For the path of the penitent is not sequential, but rather the way of the penitent is that he must sometimes go backwards, as is brought in the name of the Baal Shem [Tov] on the verse (Psalms 48:15), "He will lead us as [one leads] a young child." As at first, he is helped from Above to go and to run in the ways of God; but afterwards, he is left alone, and then he goes backwards, but then he returns to walk sequentially.
Kedushat Levi
[The following lengthy paragraph has been omitted in several editions of the Kedushat Levi. I have included it as I am puzzled why some publishers should have taken it upon themselves to omit such an impressive proof of the author’s lofty moral concept of how a Jew can become the personality which reflects that he has thoroughly “digested” what the Torah considers him capable of. Ed.]
“Here I have placed before you this day blessing and curse.” It appears somewhat strange that two opposites such as blessing and curse should have been lumped together by Moses in a single verse, instead of being treated in separate paragraphs, as is the case when the Torah, on two separate occasions in Bechukotai and Ki Tavo, lists the results of obeying or disobeying G’d’s commandments.
In order to understand this let us first explain an important rule concerning the works performed by man, something designed to prevent us from becoming overbearing and taking undue credit when we do serve the Creator by performing the various commandments that He has given us for our benefit. If we were to do that, we would be only a few steps away from generating physical desires that may overwhelm us.
Not only must we not compliment ourselves for our service of the Lord as being a major accomplishment on our part, but on the contrary, we must consider such service as being minimal, and as a result of this we must become conscious of the immense spiritual gap between us and the Creator, so that we wind up with a broken heart when we consider our relative impotence when compared to Him. The more we serve Him, the more will we realize that we are still at the beginning of gaining an understanding of the immensity of a Being that has called into existence the entire universe and keeps in constant touch with all His creatures, being aware of what they do at any place and at any time. If we merely take time out to contemplate that ours is not the only planet that G’d has created but that are millions like it, how can we not feel our relative insignificance in the scheme of things that G’d has created?
We get a glimpse of the feelings generated by servants of Hashem in the celestial regions when we recite daily in our morning prayers that in spite of their knowing that they are beloved, pure and mighty, i.e. כלם אהובים כלם ברורים, כלם גבורים, nonetheless, in spite of their “standing at the heights of the universe,” ברום עולם, they relate to the Creator in awe and dread, i.e. באימה וביראה. If this applies to the leading angels, how much more does it apply to us mortal human beings. It appears from the version quoted in our prayers that these angels did not experience the feelings of their inadequacy until they were actively involved in performing acts of service for the Creator.
Immediately following these lines in the morning prayers, the highest category of angels, the seraphim, chayot and ofanim, are described as having intensified and reinforced their worship by proclaiming the holiness of G’d three times, i.e. קדושה. When we serve the Lord in the proper manner, our spiritual progress will assume the nature of a “chain reaction,” each act of service resulting in a better understanding of the Creator by His creature. Our author sees in the command to serve the Lord by blowing shofar on New Year’s day, (Psalms 81,4) an “invitation” to spiritually improve ourselves, the word שופר from the root שפר, personifying the concept of beautifying, i.e. improving oneself. The word תקיעה, based on the root תקע, meaning “firmly pitching (tent),” see Genesis 31,25 when used with the blowing of the ram’s horn, suggests that this service of the Lord be something firmly embedded in our personality, [not an occasional visit to the synagogue. Ed.] The fact that it is performed symbolically on New Year’s especially, points to the effect it has in renewing our commitment to Hashem. The very idea that we need periodically to “renew” this commitment, suggests that we are still at the “beginning” of our spiritual ascent. This is also reflected in the psalmist urging us (psalms 98,1) to “sing a new song for the Lord.” The נפלאות, wonders, which G’d worked that the psalmist describes in psalms 98, are that He deepens the perceptive powers of His servants, the ones who sing new songs in His praise.
It is worth recalling an explanation of the Baal Shem Tov on psalms 48,15 where David describes G’d’s leading us forever with the words: הוא ינהגנו על מות, “He will lead us beyond death.” The Baal Shem tov, uses a parable to explain that verse. A father, when teaching his son to walk, ensures that he does not start by running but by taking slow steps. In order to encourage his son to walk more and more assuredly, he gradually distances himself from the son, so that the latter needs to cover more distance before arriving in the embrace of his father. The fact that G’d, i.e. His essence, appears very distant to us encourages us to make greater efforts to solve this mystery by getting closer to Him through serving Him better. This in turn, creates the feeling within us that although we have not achieved our objective in unraveling all the mysteries surrounding G’d, we nonetheless no longer consider our efforts as inconsequential. Every day we feel as if we enter a new chapter in our service of the Lord.
“Here I have placed before you this day blessing and curse.” It appears somewhat strange that two opposites such as blessing and curse should have been lumped together by Moses in a single verse, instead of being treated in separate paragraphs, as is the case when the Torah, on two separate occasions in Bechukotai and Ki Tavo, lists the results of obeying or disobeying G’d’s commandments.
In order to understand this let us first explain an important rule concerning the works performed by man, something designed to prevent us from becoming overbearing and taking undue credit when we do serve the Creator by performing the various commandments that He has given us for our benefit. If we were to do that, we would be only a few steps away from generating physical desires that may overwhelm us.
Not only must we not compliment ourselves for our service of the Lord as being a major accomplishment on our part, but on the contrary, we must consider such service as being minimal, and as a result of this we must become conscious of the immense spiritual gap between us and the Creator, so that we wind up with a broken heart when we consider our relative impotence when compared to Him. The more we serve Him, the more will we realize that we are still at the beginning of gaining an understanding of the immensity of a Being that has called into existence the entire universe and keeps in constant touch with all His creatures, being aware of what they do at any place and at any time. If we merely take time out to contemplate that ours is not the only planet that G’d has created but that are millions like it, how can we not feel our relative insignificance in the scheme of things that G’d has created?
We get a glimpse of the feelings generated by servants of Hashem in the celestial regions when we recite daily in our morning prayers that in spite of their knowing that they are beloved, pure and mighty, i.e. כלם אהובים כלם ברורים, כלם גבורים, nonetheless, in spite of their “standing at the heights of the universe,” ברום עולם, they relate to the Creator in awe and dread, i.e. באימה וביראה. If this applies to the leading angels, how much more does it apply to us mortal human beings. It appears from the version quoted in our prayers that these angels did not experience the feelings of their inadequacy until they were actively involved in performing acts of service for the Creator.
Immediately following these lines in the morning prayers, the highest category of angels, the seraphim, chayot and ofanim, are described as having intensified and reinforced their worship by proclaiming the holiness of G’d three times, i.e. קדושה. When we serve the Lord in the proper manner, our spiritual progress will assume the nature of a “chain reaction,” each act of service resulting in a better understanding of the Creator by His creature. Our author sees in the command to serve the Lord by blowing shofar on New Year’s day, (Psalms 81,4) an “invitation” to spiritually improve ourselves, the word שופר from the root שפר, personifying the concept of beautifying, i.e. improving oneself. The word תקיעה, based on the root תקע, meaning “firmly pitching (tent),” see Genesis 31,25 when used with the blowing of the ram’s horn, suggests that this service of the Lord be something firmly embedded in our personality, [not an occasional visit to the synagogue. Ed.] The fact that it is performed symbolically on New Year’s especially, points to the effect it has in renewing our commitment to Hashem. The very idea that we need periodically to “renew” this commitment, suggests that we are still at the “beginning” of our spiritual ascent. This is also reflected in the psalmist urging us (psalms 98,1) to “sing a new song for the Lord.” The נפלאות, wonders, which G’d worked that the psalmist describes in psalms 98, are that He deepens the perceptive powers of His servants, the ones who sing new songs in His praise.
It is worth recalling an explanation of the Baal Shem Tov on psalms 48,15 where David describes G’d’s leading us forever with the words: הוא ינהגנו על מות, “He will lead us beyond death.” The Baal Shem tov, uses a parable to explain that verse. A father, when teaching his son to walk, ensures that he does not start by running but by taking slow steps. In order to encourage his son to walk more and more assuredly, he gradually distances himself from the son, so that the latter needs to cover more distance before arriving in the embrace of his father. The fact that G’d, i.e. His essence, appears very distant to us encourages us to make greater efforts to solve this mystery by getting closer to Him through serving Him better. This in turn, creates the feeling within us that although we have not achieved our objective in unraveling all the mysteries surrounding G’d, we nonetheless no longer consider our efforts as inconsequential. Every day we feel as if we enter a new chapter in our service of the Lord.
Kedushat Levi
In light of the foregoing it is appropriate to explain the words in Song of Songs 1,3 (page 297) in accordance with the words of the Baal Shem Tov of sainted memory. He first explains psalms 48,15 הוא ינהגנו על מות, “He will lead us beyond mortality,” by using a parable. A father teaches a very young son how to walk two or three steps at a time. When the little boy has walked a few steps toward his father, his father distances himself from him a little farther in order to encourage his son to “walk the extra mile.” The father repeats this maneuver every time his son is about to catch up with him. G’d encourages us to “catch up with Him” in a similar fashion, by appearing to be more and more out of our reach. The message we (the tzaddikim) are to receive from this maneuver is that we have not yet attained perfection. This is what David meant when he said הוא ינהגנו על מות, “in order for G’d to lead us into immortality.” He has to encourage us to “catch up with Him,” step by step.
[You the reader, may have noticed that the word: עלמות contains the same letters in the same sequence as the two words על מות in psalms 48,15. Ed.]
To get back to Song of Songs 1,3 לריח שמניך טובים, “for your oils are good as fragrance;” the Hebrew word שמן, oil, is used allegorically to describe a person’s good deeds. When Solomon in Kohelet 9,8 warns that ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר, “may your head never lack oil (ointment),” he does not refer to perfumed oils, but to the fragrance emanating from a person who has many good deeds to his credit. Under what circumstances are such fragrances compared to שמן תורק שמך, “Your name being poured forth like oil?,” when the tzaddik has the feeling again and again after having scaled a rung on the ladder of spiritual ascent, that he is empty and needs to replenish spiritual energies possession of which would bring him closer to perfection. When this is what the tzaddik worries about constantly, his head gives forth the fragrance of the oils mentioned by Solomon in Song of Songs.
[You the reader, may have noticed that the word: עלמות contains the same letters in the same sequence as the two words על מות in psalms 48,15. Ed.]
To get back to Song of Songs 1,3 לריח שמניך טובים, “for your oils are good as fragrance;” the Hebrew word שמן, oil, is used allegorically to describe a person’s good deeds. When Solomon in Kohelet 9,8 warns that ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר, “may your head never lack oil (ointment),” he does not refer to perfumed oils, but to the fragrance emanating from a person who has many good deeds to his credit. Under what circumstances are such fragrances compared to שמן תורק שמך, “Your name being poured forth like oil?,” when the tzaddik has the feeling again and again after having scaled a rung on the ladder of spiritual ascent, that he is empty and needs to replenish spiritual energies possession of which would bring him closer to perfection. When this is what the tzaddik worries about constantly, his head gives forth the fragrance of the oils mentioned by Solomon in Song of Songs.